HEARTFELT histories, artwork and memorabilia are helping Southend residents and visitors pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the First World War.

Events will be held across the town as it continues to remember 100 years since the conflictbegan.

One of the events is a talk from town historian Ken Crowe, explaining how about 10,000 wounded soldiers and sailors were treated at Southend hospitals.

Southend Hospital did not exist 100 years ago, instead there was a Victorian hospital in Warrior Square, built in the 1880s.

In addition, four auxiliary hospitals were set up around the town. The Palace Hotel was transformed into the 350-bed Queen Mary’s Royal Naval Hospital, and Red Cross hospitals were established in Southchurch, Westcliff and on Eastern Esplanade.

Mr Crowe, 65, retired in January after 33 years working at Southend Museum, but since then has created the museum’s Great War exhibition and researched the town’s war hospitals.

He said: “Other than Chelmsford, Southend had the most war hospitals in Essex.

Wounded servicemen were brought on ambulance trains into Southend Central and Southend Victoria and then transported to the hospitals.

“Huge crowds greeted their returning heroes. We had injured soldiers being brought to Southend from almost the first day of the war. The last patient didn’t leave the town until 1919, after the war was over.

“Initially, they tried to bring injured people back to somewhere near their home, but that didn’t last long and we had people coming to Southend from all over the country – some of whom went back to war.

“We know the identities of about 50 or 60 of those people who came here, but out of 10,000 that is nothing really.

“I’d like to identify more of the soldiers, and also the VAD [Voluntary Aid Detachment] nurses that worked in the hospitals.”

With 100 years having passed since the outbreak of the war, it is unsurprising little evidence remains of the town’s war hospital heritage.

The Glen Red Cross hospital was set up at the corner of Southchurch Avenue and Southchurch Road, where now stands Essex House tower block.

The Overcliff Hotel, in Manor Road, Westcliff, housed a second Red Cross facility, now flats.

And the Hamilton Convalescence Home, in Eastern Esplanade, is now the Gold Coast Chinese restaurant. But on the front of the building there is still a shield bearing the letters HCH, signifying the part it played in Southend’s war history.

Hear more about the hospitals in Mr Crowe’s talk at the Forum, Elmer Square, Southend, from 2pm to 3.30pm on Saturday.

Tickets are £5 from www.the forumsouthend.co.uk